My main reason for selling was because I’m trying to focus my attention and energy on other travel sites that I’m starting. I’m trying to branch new travel niche websites off of my original, somewhat successful budget travel site BudgetGlobetrotting.com. So if by chance you’re interested in luxury travel, family vacations, or beach vacations, check out my other sites.

If not, stay up to date with Indie music here. It’s been fun and I’ve learned a lot about indie music with this blog, and it’ll be hard to see it go. Oh well. Later —-Nick

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I’ve decided to put this blog, Independent Music Blog, up for potential sale. My post frequency has been dropping, and I haven’t done what I’ve planned to do with the site yet. I think it could offer a lot more under a new developer.

So if you are interested in buying the site, you can get it relatively cheaply. Contact me NOW using the contact form or commenting here! and I will direct you to the forum where it is being sold. There aren’t any bids on it yet though, so there’s a definite possibility nobody will buy it, and I’ll gladly keep blogging here.

So if you indie music fans want to start blogging on a well established music blog (this one), please contact me. I want it to remain in good hands. Don’t be afraid if you don’t know anything about blogging or sites, its easy.

UPDATE: The site was not sold, so I will remain the owner indefinitely.  I am still open to offers to buy the site, but I will not be actively trying to sell it for awhile. 

For their CD, it’s their first self released EP called Bright Outside (link to listen below), and it’s pretty decent for a first release. It’s nothing unpleasant by any means. I think Bright Outside is their best song on the EP, as it offers good orchestral sounds with pretty good vocals. Valerie, Bert, and Ernie is also pretty good, although it seems to be a bit slow and dragging at points. But overall, I am fairly impressed with those two songs offered on Bright Outside.

The EP also features “Meant to Be” which is a “driving sing-along,” that shows a perkier side of Arwin. Fortunately it doesn’t sound too punk, which is a plus to me.

All of these songs can be heard at the band’s myspace page. Overall, the EP is a little above average. I look forward to following their progress because I think their next offering could be a lot better.

Si when I popped the Swede CD into iTunes to start the review, I immediately remembered why I asked for a copy of their music. I can safely say that it is good. Describing their music, however, is a bit more difficult. It falls somewhere between rock and singer/songwriter, and matches perfectly with the rainy Saturday afternoon that lingers outside my window.

The Swede sounds most like a Coldplay and Kunek mixture, but it has a more subdued sound that Coldplay does not possess.

Shoddy Records describes their offereing best with “it retains a solid feel throughout, opting not to overstuff itself with filler, or instrumental red herrings.” I can stand by that statement, because very rarely do their songs get too heavy. They’ve got a great thing going.
As for songs on the record, my favorites include The First Song on this Record and No Loud Crash. You can listen to The First Song on this Record, The Director, and A Harmless Tune online at the Shoddy Records website.

The Swede have only begun, and I think they have the characteristics needed to make some waves in the Indie music scene if they keep up the good work and a get a few breaks here and there.

• Don’t Look Back
• Sonic Youth (Daydream Nation)

Saturday, July 14

• Cat Power
• Clipse
• Iron & Wine
• Girl talk
• Grizzly Bear
• Professor Murder

Sunday, July 15

• Of Montreal
• Jamie Lidell
• Ken Vandermark’s Powerhouse Sound

Very solid artist lineup at Pitchfork in 07. Saturday looks like a pretty bad ass day, and then there’s a solid wrap up Saturday with Of Montreal and Jamie Lidell. So if you’re in the Chitown area that weekend, look into getting some day tickets. The discounted three day tickets are already sold out, but a little spendier day tickets will still be available.

Dumbluck is the first song on Dntel’s new album, also titled Dumbluck. I previously covered Jimmy Tamborello’s Dumbluck.

As for the single that is available online, I think it’s pretty good. Honestly, I hated the first 40 seconds or so, and I had to force myself to listen to it. I wasn’t impressed with the sound, and I even restarted it right away because I thought I was having streaming problems, because no way could someone want that intro.

But as I finished listening to Dumbluck, it definitely grew on me, and I started to enjoy it. I’m looking forward to the rest of the CD. So kudos to Jimmy. Jimbo. The Jimster…keep it up.

Gibbard hasn’t worked much with Death Cab for Cutie lately, and bandmate Chris Walla has already decided to try his luck as a solo artist. His side project Postal Service with Tamborella hasn’t done much either, so Gibbard’s taking his oppurtunity to go solo a bit.

I think this is his first solo tour, but it’s not his first time playing alone. He was previously solo on Home Volume Five with Andrew Kenny. He made some pretty good music then too.

So if you’re a Death Cab and postal service fan, don’t be shy about attending a solo gig of his if he’s in your backyard. The tour schedule is below.

May 2007
3 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
4 - Chicago, IL - Metro
5 - Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
7 - Somerville, MA - Somerville Theatre
8 - New York, NY - The Town Hall
9 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
11 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
12 - Atlanta, GA - Center Stage
13 - Nashville, TN - City Hall
14 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
15 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
17 - Los Angeles, CA - Royce Hall
18 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
19 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
20 - Seattle, WA - Showbox

I’ve been commissioned to review MetalUnderground.com, a music site that is self explanatory from its name. Even though I’m not a big fan of hard rock / death / black / metal music, I thought I’d take the opportunity because I like exploring music websites of all genres.

Right away when I visited Metal Underground, I was pretty impressed. It seems to have a as much of a “homey” feeling that death metal fan sites can have. The layout is nice and easy to navigate, and the content of its pages is of high quality. There isn’t too much fluff or adspace to distract visitors. Definitely good.

But more needs to be said on the content of Metal Underground. The site has…

• News - It has a highly relevant music news feed. It supports RSS / xml feeds, so you can subscribe to it.
• Band Pages - Little bios and news for whatever metal band you may like.
• Reviews - Very in depth reviews of music. If you’re too lazy to read their well developed paragraphs, there are also two sentences on “highs” “lows,” and then a “bottom line” to summarize.
• Interviews - Over 200 of them. You can have your own band interviewed by them as well, so it could be a good promotional tool.
• Galleries - Bunches of band pictures from live concerts.

Another good aspect of the site is its mission, per say. It always strives to help music fans find new artists that they may like. That’s alot like me, because helping people find new music is the sole purpose behind music bloggers.

So, if you’d like to find a new metal band, or think you may want to give the genre a play on your iPod, snoop around Metal Underground. Peace….or death. (sorry, not funny)

Their single Dashboard has been all over the internet the past few weeks to create some buzz for their new album release. You can listen to it on their site ModestMouseMusic.com.

Modest Mouse’s new album will be released on “double 180 gram vinyl, CD, and limited edition CD with deluxe slipcase and 32 page booklet.” Also, if you’re an iTunes kind of person and choose to download it from there, you get Dashboard in your library immediately. Yippee…